Did Andre Ward retire to avoid Artur Beterbiev?

No.

 

I don't think so

Beterbiev was going through promotional hell anyway so wasn't really in a position to fight anyway was he?

 

No.

And there was always going to be the next guy to fight. 175 is littered with boogeymen, even more so back then: Gvozdyk, Stevenson, Bivol, Beterbiev. There was always going to be the next guy to fight, the next guy he was afraid of.

Ward was close to retiring years before facing Kovalev, when he had promotional issues with Goosen, his manager(I think), and he had long layoffs due to injuries too.
And if it weren't for Roc Nation, he might have retired. They offered him a ridiculous deal, and then got him a 3 fight HBO contract, plus a career high purse for the Kovalev rematch.

https://boxingnewsonline.net/news/a...now-promises-a-rude-awakening-for-paul-smith/

 

He obviously did. I like Andre, I think he had a great career and is underrated by a lot of people who didn't like him when he was active. He's one of the greatest super middleweights of all time.

But he wanted zero smoke with Beterbiev lol

 

He didn't. He retired because he was riddled with injuries and had been for years.

 

Beterbiev, Bivol and Gvodzyk were all coming up and looking great at the time. While ostensibly Ward retired due to injuries, I doubt he wanted any part of those three.

 

Exactly correct! Ward's knees were shot. There was a documentary on Showtime that showed how bad he was hurting at the end of his career. Imo, he retired at the right time unlike most in this sport.

 

High levels of butthurt emanating from this post.

 

He was objectively outpointed by Kovalev in one of the more egregious results of American home cooking.

He would probably have been stopped by Beterbiev even if he survived for 12, there was little chance of getting another gift without utterly destroying the credibility of the sport's officiating.

These circumstances very possibly played a role in his decision to retire .


(This topic seems like it would be more at home in the Classic Forum).

 

Can literally say this about anyone who retires on top if we are playing this game

 

He wasn't avoiding one guy he saw the writing on the wall generally. Like Hagler for example.

Ward was also trying to protect his 0 and ducking to keep a 0 isn't the same thing as ducking because you don't think you can win. If he'd continued he'd get stuck in a quagmire of rematches and trilogys where losses were probably happening.

Ward had beaten primeish Dawson near the peak of his powers and he didn't avoid the LHW golden generation totally but Ward was a career 168 who had a cup of coffee at 175 like Calzaghe. Ward was looking to win the LHW title, win a risky fight or two he'd get paid for and quit while he was ahead. And that's what he did. He had to prove the Kovalev win wasn't a fluke otherwise Kovalev might have been his John Ruiz if he'd beaten him easy.

Ward might have stayed if the division wasn't good but it was. It was time to go.

 

Yes. What champ retires that young in thier prime